Thread: honemeisters getting it shave ready... time?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I'm going to answer in a little different way, From a nice sticky sharp bevel to shave ready about 20 min....
Getting a razor to that nice sticky sharp bevel???????????????????????????????? That's the work, it could take 20 laps, it could take 100's of laps, it might take circles, it might take rocking stokes, or swooping strokes, or a few other techniques to finally get to a nice sharp bevel....

Also one other point, time is relative to how fast you hone, it's the lap count that really matter's, after going to the NC meet up I saw that new guys on the hone go way slower then experienced people... 20 laps to me, and 20 laps to you, are two totally different times.....

I'm not a honemeister, but Glen summed it up perfectly, in my experience. Getting a good bevel, which I usually do on a DMT 1200, can take anywhere from a few minutes to seemingly forever. Once I've got a good bevel, that's sticky sharp along the full length of the blade, the rest is much more predictable. I like naturals and my usual progression after the DMT 1200 is Belgian blue, coticule, Chinese 12K, Nakayama, and stropping on (unpasted) leather. But I'm slower than Glen. The post-bevel work usually takes me 30 - 40 minutes.

When I started honing I had watches Lynn's video and thought that the vintage blade I was honing should be sharp with a simple stroll through the pyrimid. Well it wasn't after much work I shaved with that blade but it took weeks of trial. I now just start with the DMT 1200 on old flea market finds. I get it down to fresh steel then start with the norton. So to answer the question minutes to weeks.

My watchmaker friend has a sign in his shop to the effect that when you bring a watch in for diagnosis its one price, if you tell him what's wrong with it its more, if you work on it yourself its still more and if you work on it yourself and loose parts then its an arm and two legs. Also you never ask how long its going to take to do a repair or the price is automatically doubled.

So from the vantage point of someone who does honing for a fee the answer to this question should be it takes days and days of work to get a razor shave ready. If you do honing for free then the answer is it depends on the condition of the razor. maybe 15 minutes and maybe 15 hours.

Once I have a proper bevel honing is a very easy event but I takes me forever to get a nice bevel on a new or an old razor but then again I find it soothing.